Idiakez Back In Action

Inigo Idiakez pulls on a Derby County shirt again later today as he lines up for The Rams in the Selco Central Masters Cup at the Nottingham Arena. The Spaniard, a firm favourite at Pride Park, made eighty-eight appearances in a two season stint for Derby scoring twenty goals in the process and inspiring George Burley`s side to fourth in the table in his first season. A play-off semi-final clash with Billy Davies` Preston North End ended their promotion hopes and Burley left in the summer. Idiakez never really gelling with his replacement, Phil Brown, after being asked to play a more defensive role and he eventually moved on to Southampton making a return to Pride Park in the play-offs in 2007 when he missed the vital penalty in the shootout that sent The Rams to Wembley and promotion to the Premiership.

Derby will be hoping to better last year`s performance when they lost all of their group games, the squad also includes Kevin Poole, Shane Nicholson, Darren Wassall, Marc Edworthy, Craig Ramage and Dean Sturridge. The Rams will take on teams from Notts County, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion with the winners going through to the national finals of the over-35`s competition. The tournament is growing in popularity and is a regular fixture on the television with this evenings games being screened live.